Bates diver Lamdin stays strong

March 20th, 2009

Throughout her career, Bates senior diver Kelsey Lamdin has always stepped up to the plate when it mattered most. During this morning’s workouts at the NCAA Division III Diving Championships, Lamdin was attempting a dive from the one-meter springboard when she accidentally hit her head and hands on the board on her way down from a dive.

Lamdin said later that she “thought she had just hit [her] hand, but when [she] looked around, there was blood everywhere.” After gaining her composure, Lamdin was brought to the University Medical Center here on the University of Minnesota campus. Upon entering, Lamdin and her coach, Mike Bartley, informed the Emergency Room staff that they had a competition they needed to get back to and to hurry up. The medical staff got Lamdin in and out of the ER in a record time of under an hour. Lamdin ended up receiving fifteen staples in her head as a result of the injury.

When Lamdin arrived back at the University Aquatics Center, she had just five minutes to prepare herself for the final dives of her career. Lamdin ended up finishing tenth overall with a score of 388.45.\But it is not her finish in the competition that made today special for Coach Casares. By coming back to finish the competition, Casares said Lamdin “represented Bates, and that is special.” He adds that “throughout her career here, when it came time to compete, Kelsey was always ready. This is her, through and through.”

Lamdin is doing fine tonight as of the one-meter diving finals. She said that it “felt like when you hit your head coming out of a car. It doesn’t hurt that bad.” When asked what got her through this, Lamdin added, “I’ve worked four years for this. This is what it’s all about.”

Tonight, Calvin’s Casey Herman took home the title in the women’s one-meter diving finals. She deserves many congratulations and performed superbly tonight. But let’s not forget Lamdin through all of this. By overcoming adversity and just coming back to perform in prelims, Kelsey Lamdin personified what Division III athletics is all about. She fought through a very rough patch and managed to represent herself, and more importantly her school and women’s diving, in the best way possible. So, on behalf of everyone here at CollegeSwimming.com, I would just like to say this: thank you, Kelsey, and congratulations on being a champion in your own right.